Free Battle of the Ring by Thorarinn Gunnarsson Page B

been trying to remember. Deep within me are certain
instinctive memories that were given to me when I was first made. One told me
to wait and watch for the Dvannan Kelvessan, the High Kelvessan, who will be
different from those who have come before. When Velmeran pulled his telepathic
trick, something had been trying to push that memory to the front of my
mind.”
    Dyenlerra nodded slowly. “Of course. And you would have saved me a
fair amount of trouble if you had called up that information when you were
supposed to, instead of losing it in that scrap heap of data you call a
memory.”
    Valthyrra’s camera pod struck an indignant pose.
    “Wait a moment,” Mayelna interrupted. “You mean that
Velmeran...”
    The medic nodded again. “Dvanna Kelvessa. He is not like you or
me.”
    “And just how is he supposed to be different?”
    Dyenlerra shrugged. “I am not yet certain of every smallest detail,
but we do know the important points. His psychic abilities are the most obvious
difference. Others are more apparent, once you recognize them as racial
differences. Dvannan Kelvessan are slightly taller and a good deal stronger
than the old model. The indication is that they are smarter in certain ways.
And they live longer. Our life expectancy has increased from three hundred to
three hundred and fifty years. I am sure that Velmeran, barring accident, will
live to see three or four thousand – the Aldessan live thirty-five
hundred. But his regenerative powers are such that he may be functionally
immortal.”
    “My Velmeran?” Consherra and Mayelna asked at the same time, and
glanced at each other.
    “Yes, our Velmeran,” the medic continued. “Also, early
Kelvessan did not look that different from modern humans. Now we are very hard
to mistake for human. The High Kelvessan, although very good-looking by our
standards, are diverging even more. The elfin qualities are taking on a curious
feral appearance. His eyes are larger, and his skull is elongated. Humans have
their brains mostly above their eyes, and high foreheads. Our brains are retreating
somewhat behind our faces, the way the Aldessan or Feldenneh are. Our brain
shapes are changing: our areas are becoming more compact and efficient. I wish
that I had kept Dveyella for autopsy.”
    “She was Dvanna Kelvessa?” Valthyrra asked.
    “Certainly. Dvanna Kelvessa have been around for nearly a hundred
years now. Velmeran is just so unique that his differences cannot be
overlooked. I have already positively identified five others on this ship. That
oldest duty child of his certainly is. Baress is Dvanna Kelvessa, as his sister
was. As well as the twins Tregloran and Ferryn. However, their mother Baressa
is not.”
    “Who is the fifth?” Consherra asked.
    “You are, of course,” Dyenlerra said, confirming her suspicions.
“The rule, with no exceptions that I have yet seen, is that High
Kelvessan are natural telepaths. There are also readings on the medical
scanners that cannot be denied. And, as I indicated, you can tell by sight once
you know what to look for.”
    “Then, if our race is beginning a transition period, how long will it
take for the Dvannan Kelvessan to replace the old ones?” Mayelna asked.
    “The process should proceed fairly quickly now,” Dyenlerra
explained. “You see, they have the genetic advantage. A mating of the old
and new always produces a child of the new variety, never one of the old or
even a half-breed.”
    She paused, for everyone was watching Consherra closely, for the first
officer was preoccupied with feeling the shape of her skull. She found it
rather unsettling to be told that she was something other than she had always
believed herself to be. It made her feel very alien and alone, and she could
well imagine how Velmeran was going to react to this; he felt alien and alone
as it was.
    “Shall I send for a mirror?” the medic asked. “Dear girl,
you are not going to turn into a Faldennye.”
    “Besides, what do you have